Theoretical modeling of surface and tip‐enhanced Raman spectroscopies

Abstract

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful technique in molecular science because of the ability of providing vibrational ‘finger‐print’. The developments of the surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and tip‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) have significantly improved the detection sensitivity and efficiency. However, they also introduce complications for the spectral assignments, for which advanced theoretical modeling has played an important role. Here we summarize some of our recent progresses for SERS and TERS, which generally combine both solid‐state physics and quantum chemistry methods with two different schemes, namely the cluster model and the periodic boundary condition (PBC) model. In the cluster model, direct Raman spectra calculations are performed for the cluster taken from the accurate PBC structure. For PBC model, we have developed a quasi‐analytical approach that enables us to calculate the Raman spectra of entire system. Under the TERS condition, the non‐uniformity of plasmonic field in real space can drastically alter the interaction between the molecule and the light. By taking into account the local distributions of the plasmonic field, a new interaction Hamiltonian is constructed and applied to model the super‐high‐resolution Raman images of a single molecule. It shows that the resonant Raman images reflect the transition density between ground and excited states, which are generally vibrational insensitive. The nonresonant Raman images, on the other hand, allow to visualize the atomic movement of individual vibrational modes in real space. The inclusion of non‐uniformity of plasmonic field provides ample opportunities to discover new physics and new applications in the future. WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2017, 7:e1293. doi: 10.1002/wcms.1293This article is categorized under: Structure and Mechanism > Molecular Structures Structure and Mechanism > Computational Materials Science Theoretical and Physical Chemistry > Spectroscopy